Heater, stove, and burner, particularly adapted for use in making field laboratory tests



Aug. 31, 1948. 5 BENT 2,448,412

HEATERS, STOVES AND BURNERS, PARTICULARLY ADAPTED FOR USE IN MAKING FIELD LABORATORY TESTS Filed March 6, 1945 jwue/wbor/ HENRY E. BENT Patented Aug. 31 1948 HEATER, STOVE, AND BURNER, PARTICU- LARLY ADAPTED FOR USE MAKIN FIELD LABORATORY TESTS I Henry Bent, Columbia, Mo. ApDlicationMarch c, 1945, Serial No. 531,25 g

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government, for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to heaters, particularly to an alcohol burner capable of producing even and steady heat for use in the field.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a burner which will be insensitive to drafts.

Another object of this invention is to provide a burner, which can be conveniently used in the field and supplied as a part in a kit furnished to the services.

In the accompanying drawings in which the preferred form of my invention is illustrated Fig. 1 is a vertical, sectional view of a heater forming one embodiment of the invention with broken lines showing the position of the condenser in its non-operative position.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view of the wick holder and cap of the burner of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the heater of Fig. 1 with the condenser removed.

My preferred embodiment includes a wicktype lamp represented in Fig. 1 as having a reservoir I for containing some liquid fuel and a wick 2 protruding through the neck in accordance'with conventional wick type burner design. A cylindrical chimney or shield 3 resting on top of the reservoir I protects the burner from drafts. A second inner chimney or bafiie like shield 4 is supported inside the first chimney and extends only part way towards the burner, as shown. The inner chimney 4 tends to concentrate the heat around the center block 6 and protects the outer shield 3 from overheating. It is supported by three pins 5 extending therethrough.

The heater-lock 6, also supported by the pins 5, has two holes I I therein to accommodate tubes containing test materials, and a groove I2 in its top surface for heating tubes with test materials so that the changes may be observed. The flat space on top surface of block I2 may be used for heating a glass plate or test papers,

The block 6 has an inside cavity adapted to contain water I or other constant boiling point liquid depending upon the temperature desired or needed for proper tests. The materials undergoing tests are placed in glass tubes which are inserted into cavities II or I2.

The heater-block 6 is shown as having an inwardly inclined opening 8 with a shoulder 9 adapted to accommodate a tubular condenser I0 of metal of low thermal conductivity for cooling 2 Claims. (01. 126-256) the condensed vapors and return of liquid to the sump I located in the bottom of the block.

The condenser shown in Fig. 1 is demountable for the purpose of being packed inside the burner by placing it over a screw cap I6, which is used to cover the wick 2 when the burner is not in use, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 1.

The outer end of the condenser is equipped with two metal discs I3--I4 attached to a bushing I5 which serve as radiation shields or cooling fins to prevent loss of vapor and increase the efliciency of condensation in case the burner happens to be adjusted too high.

The burner is equipped with a small wick and a screw cap l6, which makes it possible to pack the burner in the kit without emptying the alcohol from the reservoir.

The stability of the burner with respect to drafts depends primarily upon the fact that the incoming air goes down the outside shield space and the heated combustion products go up the center annular space. As a result the burner is practically insensitive to drafts in horizontal direction. A continuous draft in a vertical direction will affect both the incoming and outgoing streams of air to an equal extent so that the flame remains steady.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction herein set forth by way of illustration as it is apparent that many changes and variations may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A stove burner substantially insensitive to drafts, comprising a liquid fuel reservoir, a wick means extending upwardly from an upper central top portion of said reservoir, a tubular shield encircling said wick means and carried on said reservoir and preventing the entrance of air at the level of said wick means, a second shorter and coaxial tubular shield spaced apart from and centrally mounted in the upper portion of said first mentioned shield and above the reservoir thereby providing an air intake between the shields, and a heater block spaced apart from and mounted within but closely adjacent to said second shield and having within its interior an evaporating liquid reservoir.

2. A stove burner substantially insensitive to drafts, comprising a liquid fuel reservoir, a wick means extending upwardly from an upper central top portion of said reservoir, a tubular shield encircling said wick means and carried on said reservoir and preventing the entrance of air at the level of said wick means, a second shorter and coaxial tubular shield spaced apart from and centrally mounted in the upper portion of said first mentioned shield and above the reservoir and thereby-providing an air intake means between the shields, a'heater block spaced apart from and within but closely adjacent to said second shield having a vaporizable liquid reservoir within its interior, and a condenser in commun cation with said vaporizable liquid reservoirfand extendin outwardl above and beyond the upper portions of said shield.

HENRYEBENT. I

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number N mber UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Brown Aug. 24, 1869 Peters Dec. 8, 1896 Beck Feb. 6, 1912 Beck Dec. 3, 1912 Nichol] et a1.; s Dec. 11, 1917 Fletcher Apr. 1, 1924 Sargeant June 9, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Switzerland Mar. 9, 1890 Switzerland Dec. 16, 1891 Switzerland 1. Mar. 11, 1909 Germany Feb. 8, 1895 Germany Dec. 23, 1929 

